And thanks be unto thee, Charlie, for the beautiful excerpt from Buechner. It's a delight to know that you know his work...and yet another reason I admire your work.
I’m very thankful for the Bulwark Never Trump OGs and the opportunity to create a coalition of people who value country over party and democracy over power.
“Trump-Lake 2024” is the bumper sticker she’s printing in her mind." ... while figuring out how old TFG will be when he is elected and wondering when his healthy life-style will catch up with him. President Lake sounds much more propriate in her ears than Vice-president Lake.
Long post and still working on it, maybe over the holiday. BUT, I gotta say the pic you lead off with was the bomb. My dream of a Tolstoy dacha in springtime. Beyond Putin the Terrible., Russia still is.
DeSantis.and "Moms for Liberty" (laff) are trying to make states like, well all the SE USA unlivable for normal people. These anti-Wokies are worse than the Wokies. Banning books in the name of free speech? How 'conservative'.
Does anyone imagine/believe that Trump was the only corporate/plutocrat type that got away with a ton of crap because he had the money/influence to get the court system to (not) work for him?
Anyone? Bueller?
This ties in, tangentially, with all the dirt about legislators trading in stocks?
WHY are these people allowed to own stocks or trade in them ITFP, in anything other than a blind trust? It's like saying, go ahead and be corrupt.
But we know who writes the laws, eh?
The people that write and enforce laws should not be allowed to write the laws that govern their own behavior in office or to be the agents that enforce those laws. Just like the police should not be policing themselves, nor lawyers or judges policing themselves.
So where has this guy been for the last 20 years, that he thinks going to a drag show with your family is over the top scandalous? I guess he has never heard of Hamburger Mary's.
What the tweet really shows is just how isolated and out of the mainstream these folks are.
I’ve never been to a drag show. I do not know any friends or family members that have been to one either. I am not making a judgment about going or not going to one I’m just saying it plenty of people have not been and have not taken their families. Wherever he has been apparently me, my friends and family have been there, too.
Now, I have had dinner with the founder of drag queen story time. Does that count?
I get where you are coming from, but that almost makes it seem like it is just an issue of being isolated and out of the mainstream. I think (and I think you'd agree) that the issue is much deeper than that.
I'm not really in the mainstream and in my red area of Ohio I'm fairly isolated from drag shows. I have no idea what Hamburger Mary's is.
The difference is that I don't have a problem with any of that from what a person chooses to partake in when it comes to their entertainment (and lifestyle, and inborn orientation). Which really makes the difference (if you ask me) that I bought into the line about it being a free country. The hateful trolls like this guy don't.
Again, I'm not suggesting you disagree with any of that, just offering my own clarifying thoughts on the subject.
Yes he is a POS, but he is a a laughable ignorant POS posing as an informed person and as such it is a waste of time getting indignant when what he truly deserves is laughter and ridicule.
As to Hamburger Mary's there is one in Toledo, if strong language bothers you then they offer a family friendly drag show every Sunday afternoon. They also do a decent burger.
In 1910, my grandfather, a college graduate from Birmingham AL, could no longer remain in that city.
His ancestors had been one of the first families of Jones Valley. Woodlawn, a section of Birmingham, was carved out of Wood acreage, where the scion grew up.
The reason Burda Harrison Wood (now there is a Southern name!) moved to NYC was becuase he could no longer live among residents with parochial ignorance and outright racism legalized as "separate, but equal."
Perhaps he was most brokenhearted by his Southern Baptist church that was instrumental in the latter.
The violence of the KKK was accepted as an "unofficial miltia"
to ensure "the coloreds" were kept in their place during his early lifetime there.
I offer this as a perspective that not much has changed in parts of the South and elsewhere in 110 years.
The notion (and optimism) that Trumpism will die off after the Sessionist-in-Chief slips his mortal coil is a fantasy.
Paranoia and guns will be with our culture for decades to come.
As H. Rap Brown (a student civil rights leader in the 1960s and 1970s) offered at a press conference 50+ years ago...
RE: Republicans get ready to offer more thoughts and prayers.
If these guys were smart, they'd just form a group of designated thinkers and prayer offerors. Sort of a T&P Rapid Response Team. Just keep them on call like any other SWAT team.
Of course, there's the issue of having to engage in regular training in order to keep their skills honed and ready in between deployments.
Nah, you can scratch that last part. The regularity of their duties will more than suffice. And the skillset required to be a certified and competent asshole is pretty durable once acquired anyway.
Taking a break from politics and MAGA for the moment, in advance of tomorrow's activities, to express my thankfulness to everyone at The Bulwark and, just as much, to all of you, for the many articulate and insightful thoughts and ideas that we have exchanged in our time here.
Because of you all I am much better informed and much more aware than I was before coming here, and I appreciate each of you for what you have contributed to our community. Thank you for your constructive comments, thoughtful replies, and endurance of my ramblings and occasional rants as we try to come to terms with the many significant changes and happenings around us.
Wishing one and all a safe and healthy Thanksgiving holiday, and the gift of time, to spend with loved family and friends as you see fit and on yourselves as well, to keep the stress down and your morale up. Our work continues as we seek to make the world around us a better place.
I seem to recall that notorious groomer Bugs Bunny might have donned drag a few times as well...IN A CHILDREN'S CARTOON!! -- and you can still stream those old Looney Tunes on HBO MAX. Clearly the apocalypse is nigh.
Two points: Trump's acct Lee whoever proved my point about Trump's taxes - Mr. "I know more than anyone" had tens of millions in tax losses. And point 2 - Dear God, 6 dead in a Walmart!
I am an atheist and while what Buechner wrote may touch the heartstrings of both believers and some non-believers, I find it somewhat pernicious in effect (like much of that type of thing).
Why do I find it pernicious? Because it (and other things like it and the beliefs that surround and inform it) dismiss/devalue agency.
Without agency (and the existence of choice that creates agency) there is no morality.
We have the capacity to recognize wrong from right (even if the definition of those things may be contextual or the source of them may be unclear). We have the capacity to understand our fellows and to put ourselves in their place.
We can choose to do or not do. We can choose to listen to our feelings or not listen. We are surrounded by the outcomes of choices, even if those choices are constrained by the larger nature of reality. Even if the choices are the imperfect results of imperfect methods.
It is our agency that makes us human (for good or ill). We must own both the good and the bad--because if we do not, things will not get better.
Neither God nor the Devil (if they exist) MADE you do anything. They merely provided the opportunity for you to CHOOSE. To choose to forgive or not forgive. To hate or love... all the myriad things that humans do.
You have agency... and if you are thankful for anything tomorrow, remember to be thankful for THAT.
Yes. Agency is my new mantra. I discovered its value only after losing it unawares, in an imbalanced marriage. I think about it daily now. Thank you for the reminder of its larger implications.
And thanks be unto thee, Charlie, for the beautiful excerpt from Buechner. It's a delight to know that you know his work...and yet another reason I admire your work.
I’m very thankful for the Bulwark Never Trump OGs and the opportunity to create a coalition of people who value country over party and democracy over power.
All I can say is .... Happy Thanksgiving, Charlie, to you and your family and all the merry band of fighters at the Bulwark!
“Trump-Lake 2024” is the bumper sticker she’s printing in her mind." ... while figuring out how old TFG will be when he is elected and wondering when his healthy life-style will catch up with him. President Lake sounds much more propriate in her ears than Vice-president Lake.
Long post and still working on it, maybe over the holiday. BUT, I gotta say the pic you lead off with was the bomb. My dream of a Tolstoy dacha in springtime. Beyond Putin the Terrible., Russia still is.
And scalable for detail, well done Charlie.
DeSantis.and "Moms for Liberty" (laff) are trying to make states like, well all the SE USA unlivable for normal people. These anti-Wokies are worse than the Wokies. Banning books in the name of free speech? How 'conservative'.
WRT Wehle's article:
Does anyone imagine/believe that Trump was the only corporate/plutocrat type that got away with a ton of crap because he had the money/influence to get the court system to (not) work for him?
Anyone? Bueller?
This ties in, tangentially, with all the dirt about legislators trading in stocks?
WHY are these people allowed to own stocks or trade in them ITFP, in anything other than a blind trust? It's like saying, go ahead and be corrupt.
But we know who writes the laws, eh?
The people that write and enforce laws should not be allowed to write the laws that govern their own behavior in office or to be the agents that enforce those laws. Just like the police should not be policing themselves, nor lawyers or judges policing themselves.
This is one situation in which “both sides” is not BS. So disappointed in Dems on this.
So where has this guy been for the last 20 years, that he thinks going to a drag show with your family is over the top scandalous? I guess he has never heard of Hamburger Mary's.
What the tweet really shows is just how isolated and out of the mainstream these folks are.
Drag is performance art.
It is a form of satire and parody.
It is not about sexuality or gender.
It is not a lifestyle into which people are "groomed and recruited".
People may not like or appreciate the performance art but it is fully covered under the 1st Amendment.
I am sorry but once RuPaul stepped into the TV spotlight 14 seasons ago... Drag has entered the mainstream.
I’ve never been to a drag show. I do not know any friends or family members that have been to one either. I am not making a judgment about going or not going to one I’m just saying it plenty of people have not been and have not taken their families. Wherever he has been apparently me, my friends and family have been there, too.
Now, I have had dinner with the founder of drag queen story time. Does that count?
I get where you are coming from, but that almost makes it seem like it is just an issue of being isolated and out of the mainstream. I think (and I think you'd agree) that the issue is much deeper than that.
I'm not really in the mainstream and in my red area of Ohio I'm fairly isolated from drag shows. I have no idea what Hamburger Mary's is.
The difference is that I don't have a problem with any of that from what a person chooses to partake in when it comes to their entertainment (and lifestyle, and inborn orientation). Which really makes the difference (if you ask me) that I bought into the line about it being a free country. The hateful trolls like this guy don't.
Again, I'm not suggesting you disagree with any of that, just offering my own clarifying thoughts on the subject.
Yes he is a POS, but he is a a laughable ignorant POS posing as an informed person and as such it is a waste of time getting indignant when what he truly deserves is laughter and ridicule.
As to Hamburger Mary's there is one in Toledo, if strong language bothers you then they offer a family friendly drag show every Sunday afternoon. They also do a decent burger.
Now I'm a tad interested. Toledo is a bit far, but I'll keep it in mind. And strong language has never been something I fucking give two shits about.
Thanks for that chuckle Knowltok!
posobiec - jealous child mean talking about an authentic patriot and lifesaver.
He can go sit on a cactus and pout.
In 1910, my grandfather, a college graduate from Birmingham AL, could no longer remain in that city.
His ancestors had been one of the first families of Jones Valley. Woodlawn, a section of Birmingham, was carved out of Wood acreage, where the scion grew up.
The reason Burda Harrison Wood (now there is a Southern name!) moved to NYC was becuase he could no longer live among residents with parochial ignorance and outright racism legalized as "separate, but equal."
Perhaps he was most brokenhearted by his Southern Baptist church that was instrumental in the latter.
The violence of the KKK was accepted as an "unofficial miltia"
to ensure "the coloreds" were kept in their place during his early lifetime there.
I offer this as a perspective that not much has changed in parts of the South and elsewhere in 110 years.
The notion (and optimism) that Trumpism will die off after the Sessionist-in-Chief slips his mortal coil is a fantasy.
Paranoia and guns will be with our culture for decades to come.
As H. Rap Brown (a student civil rights leader in the 1960s and 1970s) offered at a press conference 50+ years ago...
"Violence is as American as cherry pie."
Good for your grandfather. It takes guts to go against the ethos of your family and community, probably even more then than now.
RE: Republicans get ready to offer more thoughts and prayers.
If these guys were smart, they'd just form a group of designated thinkers and prayer offerors. Sort of a T&P Rapid Response Team. Just keep them on call like any other SWAT team.
Of course, there's the issue of having to engage in regular training in order to keep their skills honed and ready in between deployments.
Nah, you can scratch that last part. The regularity of their duties will more than suffice. And the skillset required to be a certified and competent asshole is pretty durable once acquired anyway.
Taking a break from politics and MAGA for the moment, in advance of tomorrow's activities, to express my thankfulness to everyone at The Bulwark and, just as much, to all of you, for the many articulate and insightful thoughts and ideas that we have exchanged in our time here.
Because of you all I am much better informed and much more aware than I was before coming here, and I appreciate each of you for what you have contributed to our community. Thank you for your constructive comments, thoughtful replies, and endurance of my ramblings and occasional rants as we try to come to terms with the many significant changes and happenings around us.
Wishing one and all a safe and healthy Thanksgiving holiday, and the gift of time, to spend with loved family and friends as you see fit and on yourselves as well, to keep the stress down and your morale up. Our work continues as we seek to make the world around us a better place.
You said it better than I could! I agree! Thank you, Bulwark! And thank you, Bulwark commenters!
Well said, and I echo the sentiment.
It is really nice to have a place where a thoughtful discussion can be had.
Thanks to you, Deutschmeister and Knowltok, for what you add to this community.
Thanks Mary.
I seem to recall that notorious groomer Bugs Bunny might have donned drag a few times as well...IN A CHILDREN'S CARTOON!! -- and you can still stream those old Looney Tunes on HBO MAX. Clearly the apocalypse is nigh.
Kill the rabbit! Kill the rabbit!
Amen to the article about the world cup and the Olympics.
Perhaps the 'west' just needs to pull out of those groups and start their own.
Two points: Trump's acct Lee whoever proved my point about Trump's taxes - Mr. "I know more than anyone" had tens of millions in tax losses. And point 2 - Dear God, 6 dead in a Walmart!
Trump's right about the Court, but not for the reasons he thinks.
Freiesdorf is misrepresenting reality. I don't recall any laws being passed and signed that banned white supremacist speech
WRT the Buechner bit:
I am an atheist and while what Buechner wrote may touch the heartstrings of both believers and some non-believers, I find it somewhat pernicious in effect (like much of that type of thing).
Why do I find it pernicious? Because it (and other things like it and the beliefs that surround and inform it) dismiss/devalue agency.
Without agency (and the existence of choice that creates agency) there is no morality.
We have the capacity to recognize wrong from right (even if the definition of those things may be contextual or the source of them may be unclear). We have the capacity to understand our fellows and to put ourselves in their place.
We can choose to do or not do. We can choose to listen to our feelings or not listen. We are surrounded by the outcomes of choices, even if those choices are constrained by the larger nature of reality. Even if the choices are the imperfect results of imperfect methods.
It is our agency that makes us human (for good or ill). We must own both the good and the bad--because if we do not, things will not get better.
Neither God nor the Devil (if they exist) MADE you do anything. They merely provided the opportunity for you to CHOOSE. To choose to forgive or not forgive. To hate or love... all the myriad things that humans do.
You have agency... and if you are thankful for anything tomorrow, remember to be thankful for THAT.
And use it as wisely and as best you can.
Yes. Agency is my new mantra. I discovered its value only after losing it unawares, in an imbalanced marriage. I think about it daily now. Thank you for the reminder of its larger implications.